Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

There is nothing in “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” that makes any sense. But that is not, at least on the face of it, a concern. We haven’t barged into plush theater seats with our prima facie stale popcorn to discuss any fancy issues of symbols and science; we are here for the quite literally stars in the title.

About that title: “Godzilla x Kong” (in this case an obvious reference to a few other nonehollywood inquiries into the godzilla franchise) could mean godzilla times kong, or godzilla crossed with kong, or godzilla against kong – well some permutation of the titans anyway. Punching. That is what we are here for – punching.

What we’re not here for is the humans, which is fortunate since they have been dropping like flies. Most of the characters from the last few films including the 2021 ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ (also made by Adam Wingard) are gone, and many have done so without much explanation. More often than not, Dr Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) is the next in the adopted family of young Jia (Kaylee Hottle), an Iwi tribeswoman who is able to speak to Kong in sign language.

I especially missed Alexander Skarsgard’s Dr. Nathan Lind, who’s absence is somewhat rationalized but not missed, and who is gone for narrative purposes and replaced with rather eccentric Dan Stevens young lady who apparently is a psychiatrist to all the titans. (For something about this a bloke even appears to be wearing an air of a very strong Australian accent which are not usually acceptable in British TV drama.)

Once again they are joined by Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry), the conspiracy podcaster-blogger-documentarian-weirdo prime addition from the previous movie. I can’t tell if it is the penchant for melodrama that I support. Still, for some reason, he is so convinced that everybody is so disinterested in all of his stories particularly those about the titans even when one can turn on prime time news and Godzilla and other titants are on the screen. (I’m more stuck on the strangely fantastical idea that he’s a popular blogger. Wouldn’t he have a Substack by now?)

These humans are pretty boring, and in this case, even more anemic than they were in the last movie.

They are simply there so that the story can move forward, which is where the story begins with Kong in Hollow Earth since that is all he is down there, while at the same time Godzilla is up there on the surface. As long as the twain never meet, we are good and by we, I mean humankind.

Which means, of course, that they will meet. Godzilla is then found asleep in the Colosseum, then, Godzilla is seen walking across Europe and Northern Africa appearing to soak in all the nukes he can because he senses battle within some time to come. In the very moments of this action, something seems not to be perfectly fine in the King Kong’s world down beneath. And Jia too shares such a vision, quite unusual for her-weird expeditions to the Hollow Earth.

The following is my effort at creating oodles of backstory and mythology for the Monsterverse franchise. (Their word, not mine). This is a big blunder. You can tell it’s a blunder, because all of that mythology has to come out in tiresome device informing the audience through dialogue. More importantly, once you actually know what has happened in the past, it is precisely this knowledge that controls what is reasonable to expect in the present, effectively eliminating any reserve which the film had, and optimally degenerating into just the violence – which used to be there. (So much punch.)

Never mind: Is it possible to have a mythos in this series? In the given context, both the giants of the east, Godzilla and Kong, can go to the bookshelf and study screen history – this is the 38 th Godzilla movie, and 13 th Kong movie for its respective titular character.

The fact that they have not been on the same screen all this time does not mean that they do not come with all their wounds and back stories. It feels like a throwing in the towel to the crossover franchise to explain the need for its birth as well as its further development.

That is not a shock. The history of this series causes whiplash. The 2014 film “Godzilla,” a sort of revival of the original Toho franchise with the character, was a real good film. It managed to blend the wowing of the audience with the emotional side of the movie very well. However, there was more: things like “Kong: Skull Island” and “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” followed, both of which were intended to be acts to build up a shared universe, both of which were not just bad, but real downers.

Godzilla vs. Kong was next, which was not, to put it mildly, very ‘good’ either, if only by technical standards – but it was all about action and it did deliver, including collaboration between giant ape and `nuclear’ lizard at the end – great fun as well. It was fun to watch, not least because the pinnacle took place – the two monsters met at last after so much build-up.

But taking that peak into account, it appears that there is very little parcleft for “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire”. There are entertaining sequences where Kong tramps around in the scenery, Godzilla goes into a skyscraper wrecking mode, and let us not forget the fun climactic fight which has a couple of twists. Kong especially is apparently more than happy to use actions instead of actual words, and those longer sequences are so enjoyable that it is rather annoying to the return to the humans.

Of course, it’s possible for people to be productive in these monster films. The latest Japanese film, Godzilla Minus One, which was produced on a much lower budget than Godzilla x Kong and won the Oscar for the best visual effects this year, succeeds in fusing the creature with genuine feelings, war madness and its aftermath of shame and sufferings.

It also fits better into the nature of Godzilla’s origin being the legacy of the atomic bomb within Japanese society. Terrence Rafferty in his 2004 Editorial for Fmovies, tormented the beast as “a society’s wish to possess the most dreadful occurrences in its past, and make them, the socities’ historical narrative.”

None of that is here. Instead, “Godzilla x Kong” is proof of a starting point and grounding thread having been completely abandoned horizontalism — which is a pity given the age where monsters from climate change, destructive weaponry, and power-hungry brutal dictatorships are alluded to instead of showing them since the films are unable to do so. There isn’t any mediation here whatsoever, not in the least any space for what the figurative may conceal or the literal may extend to.

Apart from the primary ensemble, the rest of the people in this film only serve as collateral (human) destruction by sever falling objects, collapsing structures and the like. They are sadly the redundant ones, but it doesn’t really matter. The point of these movies is not even about metaphor. It is slugging.

Caution: “Godzilla x Kong”, unforgiving guts of mammals and reptiles cut in two and sea monsters and technicolor guts in plenty more than I expected. Suffice it to say they are incredibly effective, for a monster movie that is, and are not too level headed as to earn an R rating. However as such I got enough of the guts and found myself finally asking one question: When will anybody have the guts – and I mean guts in every sense of the word – to make this movie in which Kong and Godzilla – or any other titan and monster, if there were so many, – are involved, but not a single human?

Or maybe there is a deeper concern at play: When will this industry be brave enough to make a fun popcorn flick like this one that actually dares to tackle the ugly truth?

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